plus ca change and all that

Go away for a few weeks and my how the world changes. Solomon Islands erupts in civil chaos again, Bush thinks about targeting some other Muslim nation and a friend sneaks off and gets married.
In fact my friends unbelievably seemed to have carried on with their lives as normal without me. They didn't seem to listen when I said I would be gone ... there were emails wondering why I wasn't answering the previous one. I mean I don't expect my students to listen but ... And they don't return my calls now that I back.